Archaeologists have uncovered a Sanskrit–Greek stele and a marble Buddha statue in the ancient port of Berenike (Greek: Βερενίκη), a city founded by the Ptolemaic Greek rulers of Egypt on the Red Sea. The finds reveal a vivid record of cultural exchange between South Asia and the Hellenistic world.
Researchers say these discoveries show that Indian merchants did not merely pass through the harbor but practiced their religious traditions inside a city shaped by Greek architecture, Greek administration, and centuries of Greco-Egyptian culture.
The new research, led by archaeologist Steven E. Sidebothem, reports that the site offers the strongest evidence yet of Buddhists living and worshiping inside a Greco-Roman city.
Sanskrit–Greek stele
The Sanskrit–Greek combination is especially striking. It ties together two classical worlds that interacted through commerce, diplomacy, and shared maritime routes. The study, published in the Jahrbuch des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts, shows how ancient Greek port design, Greek religious structures, and South Asian belief systems intertwined in a remote corner of the Egyptian desert.
Greek port, Indian sailors, and cultural mixing
Berenike, established in the third century B.C. by Ptolemy II Philadelphus, was originally a center of the Hellenistic naval and trade network. Its grid layout, monumental public buildings, and Greek inscriptions reveal a city built on Greek urban principles even long after Rome absorbed Egypt.
By the first and second centuries A.D., the port handled heavy commercial traffic between the Mediterranean and India. Goods such as pepper, cotton, gems, and ivory moved through the harbor. But the discoveries show that it was not only goods that traveled.
The Sanskrit–Greek stele demonstrates that Indian visitors engaged with the city using Greek as a shared administrative and religious language. At Berenike, Greeks acted as a bridge for merchants from Africa, Arabia, and India. Researchers say the bilingual inscription is a rare case where Sanskrit and Greek appear side by side in a religious dedication.
The Sanskrit–Greek stele speaks across cultures
The stele, carved locally in Berenike, bears three lines of Sanskrit written in Brahmi script and two lines of Greek. The dedication dates to AD 248, during the reign of Emperor Philip the Arab, a period when Greek was still widely used in the Eastern Roman Empire for official and religious purposes.
Indian stele with extant Brahmi script in green and Greek in black found in Berenike pic.twitter.com/8Zf3dRRvBQ
— Tom Marvolo Riddle (@tom_riddle2025) December 5, 2025
The donor, Vāsula, described as a kṣatriya (a member of the warrior class), also appears in Greek as “Vazulas.” The inscription states that he set up a sacred object “for the welfare and happiness of all beings.” That phrase echoes Buddhist devotional formulas found in western India. Its Greek translation shows that Indian patrons used Greek religious vocabulary when making offerings in a Greek-built sanctuary.
The inscription’s stylistic features match those from Gujarat, a major center of the Indian Ocean trade. Similar Brahmi inscriptions appear on Socotra Island, where sailors carved prayers and dedications while waiting for favorable winds. Those texts also show Buddhist and Hindu donors linked to ports across western India.
Buddha carved in Greek marble
The stele was found near a marble Buddha statue, another rare and revealing artifact. The statue was carved from Greek marble imported from the Aegean, not Indian stone. Its style echoes early Gandharan art—a form born in the Hellenistic-influenced kingdoms of Central Asia. Gandharan sculptors blended Greek artistic ideals, such as naturalistic drapery, with Buddhist iconography. The Buddha’s curled hair, halo, and flowing robe reflect this fusion of Greek technique and Buddhist themes.
Body and nimbed head of marble Buddha found in ancient Greek city of Berenike pic.twitter.com/NNTp64jSSr
— Tom Marvolo Riddle (@tom_riddle2025) December 5, 2025
Archaeologists say the statue was likely carved in Berenike itself, not imported. Its workmanship shows a sculptor familiar with Greek marble and Greek chiseling methods but working from an Indian religious model. This makes it the first known Buddhist statue produced inside an ancient Greek urban context.
The finds also include a small gypsum Buddha and a gypsum Buddha head, both made locally. These pieces further confirm that Indian patrons commissioned religious works inside the city rather than bringing them from home.
Greek sanctuary, Indian worship
The statues were discovered in and around the Isis temple complex, the spiritual center of Berenike since Ptolemaic times. The temple blended Egyptian cult traditions with strong Greek influences, reflecting how Greek settlers adopted local deities. Merchants of many backgrounds placed offerings to ensure safe sea travel. Greek inscriptions, African objects, Arabian figurines, and now Buddhist and Hindu artifacts all show that the temple served as a multicultural religious hub.
Indian traders used the space in the same way. By dedicating Buddha statues inside a Hellenistic-Egyptian sanctuary, they took part in the port’s long-standing Greek ritual environment. Researchers say this indicates that South Asian visitors felt comfortable integrating their devotions into a space shared by Greek, Roman, Egyptian and African worshippers.
Hindu iconography in a Greek-built city
Excavations also uncovered a stele depicting three Vrishni heroes, important figures in early Hindu religious tradition. The stele, carved in Egyptian gypsum but following Indian iconographic rules, shows that Hindu devotional practices coexisted with Buddhist ones. Its presence in a Greek-founded city reflects the broad reach of Indian culture across the maritime world.
A photo of Vrishni stele from Egypt#Archaeology #Greeks pic.twitter.com/WpLS5iPWPU
— Tom Marvolo Riddle (@tom_riddle2025) December 5, 2025
A port where Greek, Indian, and Egyptian worlds merged
For archaeologists, these discoveries reshape how Berenike is understood. The city’s Greek foundations created an international environment that attracted sailors from across the Indian Ocean. Greek served as the shared language of the port. Greek sanctuaries provided the space for foreign worship. Greek sculptural methods helped shape Buddhist imagery far from its homeland.
The Sanskrit–Greek stele, the first ever found in Egypt, stands out as an extraordinary example of linguistic and cultural intertwining. It is also the only known Sanskrit inscription referring to a Roman emperor. The marble Buddha is the earliest hard evidence of practicing Buddhists within the Roman world.
Researchers say the discoveries turn Berenike into one of the most important archaeological sites for understanding Greek–Indian interaction. The port shows how far ideas could travel when Greek maritime networks connected to the Indian Ocean trade.
In Berenike, a Greek city on an Egyptian shore, Buddhism and Hinduism left their mark — carved in Greek marble, written in Greek script, and placed in Greek temples — creating a record of cultural blending unmatched elsewhere in antiquity.
